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Why Stephen King needs to wait his turn

On Friday, Maine author Stephen King tweeted that Governor LePage, “needs to man up and apologize.”

For anyone who’s had their head under a rock (or buried in a March Madness bracket) for the past several days- King’s remark was in response to false claims made by the governor in his weekly radio address on Wednesday.

LePage accused King, who owns property in Florida, of moving to the Sunshine State to avoid paying income taxes to the state of Maine.

The only reason LePage went after King was to defend his own moronic tax overhaul proposal, which- among other measures that help the wealthy while hurting the middle and lower classes- includes the elimination of an income tax in Maine.

“Remember who introduced the income tax here in Maine,” LePage said. “Well, today former Governor Ken Curtis lives in Florida where there is zero income tax. Stephen King and Roxanne Quimby have moved away, as well.”

Curtis, a Democrat, does in fact live in Florida, while Quimby, a wealthy conservation philanthropist, owns property in Maine.

King, however, is a legal resident of Maine who pays his taxes, votes, and spends the majority of his time here.

LePage’s erroneous remark prompted King to issue a statement of his own on a radio station he owns in Bangor:

“Governor LePage is full of the stuff that makes the grass grow green. Tabby and I pay every cent of our Maine state income taxes, and are glad to do it. We feel, as Governor LePage apparently does not, that much is owed from those to whom much has been given. We see our taxes as a way of paying back the state that has given us so much. State taxes pay for state services. There’s just no way around it. Governor LePage needs to remember there ain’t no free lunch.”

LePage’s office scrambled to edit the false statement out of the radio address, which appears on the governor’s website, but that apparently didn’t satisfy the Master of Horror.

The full tweet posted by King on Friday reads, “Governor Paul LePage implied that I don’t pay my taxes. I do. Every cent. I think he needs to man up and apologize.”

I agree with King, but he isn’t the only Mainer who’s waiting for an apology from the governor:

The NAACP has been waiting for theirs for four years after LePage told them to “kiss my butt”.

Woman and environmentalists are still waiting for theirs after he minimized the harmful effects of BPA, a chemical in plastics, by joking that “the worst case is some women may have little beards.”

Decent people everywhere are waiting for theirs after he made that disgusting remark about state Senator Troy Jackson and the Vaseline, then followed that up with a jab at people who work in the logging industry.

And let’s not forget the people of Maine who are struggling with homelessness, mental illness, addiction and poverty that he’s used as pawns to further his destructive, maniacal agenda.

Or the awful business and political climate that he’s cultivated, or simply the general sense of shame and embarrassment that his administration has brought to the entire state.

King, who in 2013 paid 1.4 million dollars in state taxes and gives grants from three to five million dollars each year through his foundation, has every right to be angry with the governor, but he oughta’ take a number and get to the back of the line.

About Chris Shorr

Chris is a sixth generation Portlander who loves all things Maine. He has worked with mentally ill and marginalized adults at a Portland non-profit, on a lobster boat in Casco Bay, at several high-end Portland restaurants, and at a local meat packing plant. He also ran for Portland City Council in 2013, wrote a weekly column in the now defunct Portland Daily Sun, and currently writes a weekly column in The Portland Phoenix.

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Chris Shorr

Chris is a sixth generation Portlander who loves all things Maine. He has worked with mentally ill and marginalized adults at a Portland non-profit, on a lobster boat in Casco Bay, at several high-end Portland restaurants, and at a local meat packing plant. He also ran for Portland City Council in 2013, wrote a weekly column in the now defunct Portland Daily Sun, and currently writes a weekly column in The Portland Phoenix.